Spring clip for bobbins



y 5, 1966 w. c. GUSTAFSON SPRING CLIP FOR BOBBINS Filed April 2, 1964 wife?" C Gash/sow a, M f

United States Patent 3,259,150 SPRING CLIP FOR BOBBINS Walter C. Gustafson, Paxton, Mas. Sanclilf, Jelferson, Mass.) Filed Apr. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 356,737 6 Claims. (Cl. 139207) This invention relates to a new and improved spring clip or grip for holding bobbins in loom shuttles. Each bobbin is provided with an enlarged head which is held in a spring clip or grip in the shuttle and it is very important that the bobbin be held just so, especially with relation to the eye of the shuttle, or otherwise irregularities in the cloth will appear. The bobbin is automatically knocked out of the shuttle by the application of a new bobbin thereto when the bobbin is exhausted, and this of course actuates the spring, flexing the same. The spring clips wear at the bobbin gripping ends thereof, and it is a general object of the present invention to provide a spring clip or grip for bobbins which will wear much longer than those of the prior art.

It has been found that there are many problems involved in attempting to make a longer lasting clip. Ceramic and hard metal coatings are thin and difficult to apply and do not solve the problem. To apply a full tungsten carbide or other hard tip to the grip as by brazing requires such heat as results in the clip losing its temper so that it fails to grip the bobbin in the shuttle in the exact relation required in the making of cloth and it quickly fails. Uponretempering, the brazing is apt to become spongy and soon fails.

3,259,150 Patented July5, 1966 20. The indentations 26 are on arcs of circles less in diameter than that of the bobbin head, see FIG. 3. V

The inside aspects of the arms 18 and 20 are grooved transversely to the lengths thereof, as indicated at 28, thus forming ridges 30. There is a groove or depression 28 for each bobbin head ring 12, these rings being received in the grooves. Both grooves and ridges are indented to the same degree.

This construction forms two spaced gripping points for each ridge, by which the bobbin head rings are clamped.

' This therefore provides three sets of four spaced gripping points for the head although usually the center pairs are so arranged as not to grip until the others wear to some extent. The areas of the gripping points are indicated at 32. These points wear to such a degree that the bobbin is no longer gripped and the clip must be thrown away. This involves shutting the loom down for several minutes, such as twelve or fifteen, while a new spring clip is inserted in the shuttle.

In the present invention, narrow slots are cut inwardly from the ends of the arms 18 and 20. The slots are straight, elongated, and spaced to cut out all the gripping areas. Then, like sized hard metal inserts 34 are placed in the slots to fill the same. These inserts are all alike and are provided with flux which tends to hold them in position until they can be brazed or soldered in place. Then the inserts are milled to conform to the grooves 28, or of course, the grooves can be made at the same time.

It will be noted from inspection of FIG. 3 that the rings 12 aregripped by the inserts and that no other por- This invention resides in applying small harder metal inserts in the gripping areas only of the Spring clip, in a new and novel manner, so that when the inserts are brazed in position, sufiicient heat to afiect the spring tension of the clip is not needed, and the clip operates exactly as before, even though the inserts have been brazed or soldered.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation illustrating a spring clip as it holds the bobbin;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in side elevation, looking in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1, and indicating the location of the inserts;

FIG. 3 is a section on an enlarged scale on line 33 of FIG. 1;

'FIG. 4 is a view in elevation of the reverse side of the spring clip arm of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

The bobbin is indicated at 10 and its steel rings or projections at 12, there usually being three of these rings on the head portion 14 of the bobbin. The spring clip is shown generally at 16. Tl:us clip is U-shaped and has a pair of spring arms 18 and 20 connected by the narrower closed end 22 held to the shuttle as usual by a clip 24. These arms are longitudinally and centrally indented as represented by the reference numeral 26, see particularly FIG. 3.

When the bobbin becomes exhausted and the new bobbin takes its place, the new bobbin merely descends with force onto the old bobbin and knocks it out of the spring clip, and out of the shuttle. It will be clear that the arms of the spring clip have to spring out about a quarter of an inch for this action. Continued flexure of this nature will of course eventually result in crystalization of the metal and failure of the clip. The new bobbin takes the place of the old one with its head in the arms 18,

tion of the entire spring clip actually does any gripping, the bobbin head 14 and rings 12 being generally free of the spring clip everywhere else by reason of the indentations 28.

These points of grip firmly and adequately hold the bobbin in exactly the position required. Each insert has three gripping points, these points being generally in line.

By reason of the fact that the gripping occurs at points rather than all about the surface of the bobbin end 14, it is possible to arrange for the bobbin to be held in the exact position required by the shuttle as of course it is well known that these bobbins cannot be inclined or tilted in any respect because if this happens the feed of the thread to the eye of the shuttle is interfered with and damage to the cloth results.

Now when the small inserts 34 are brazed as by a silver or silver alloy, they are adequately held in the clip but the heat used is not enough to adversely affect the temper of the steel clip, and thus no further processing is needed, but a spring clip is provided that is several times longer lasting than those of the prior art and the life of the new clip approaches the failure point of the steel of which it is made.

In some cases it might be desired to use a copper or copper alloy braze, inlwhich case the spring clip has to be retempered. With such a large proportion of the area of the insert brazed, however, the retempering seldom causes the braze to fail, but of course this procedure is somewhat more expensive.

The invention in this case applies to the repair of worn spring clips as well as to the manufacture of new spring clips.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. The method of altering a spring clip for bobbins having heads where the spring clip includes a pair of spaced free-ended spring arms between which the head of the bobbin is to be gripped, the method comprising the formation of a pair of spaced generally parallel narrow slots extending inwardly from the free end of each arm for a predetermined distance, placing metal inserts harder than the spring arms in said slots, and brazing the inserts in position.

2. The method of altering a shuttle spring clip for a bobbin in which the spring clip includes a pair of spaced arms between which the head of the bobbin is to be held and the arms providing a conformation by which the head of the bobbin is gripped at a plurality of circumferentially spaced points, the method including the steps of providing elongated narrow slots extending longitudinally inwardly from the ends of said spring arms in the areas where said gripping points are located, placing metal inserts harder than the spring arms in the slots, and brazing said harder inserts in position.

3. The method of providing a shuttle spring clip for a bobbin in which the spring clip includes a pair of spaced arms between which the head of the bobbin is to be held and the arms providing a conformation by which the head of the bobbin is gripped at a plurality of circumferentially spaced points, the method including the steps of providing elongated narrow slots extending longitudinally inwardly from the ends of said spring arms in the areas where said gripping points are located, placing metal inserts harder than the spring arms in the slots, brazing said harder metal inserts in position, and then removing material from said inserts at spaced points longitudinally of said inserts thus providing a plurality of longitudinally spaced gripping points in each harder metal insert.

4. A spring clip for holding a bobbin in a shuttle, said spring clip comprising a pair of resilient spaced arms, said arms being generally parallel, generally parallel indentations on said arms located on arcs of circles which are less in diameter than the diameter of the head of the bobbin which is to be held between the spring arms, a series of depressions at the inside aspects of said arms, said depressions being oppositely facing each other and forming a series of shoulders, the shoulders and the aforesaid indentations providing a series of annularly spaced gripping points at the inside aspects of said spring arms, and metal inserts harder than the spring arms arranged in said spring arms at said gripping points.

5. The spring clip of claim 4 wherein the inserts extend completely through the spring arms.

6. The spring clip of claim 4 wherein the inserts extend completely through the spring arms, said inserts being narrow and elongated and each insert having spaced indentations therein forming a plurality of spaced gripping points in each insert.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 909,377 1/1909 Draper l39207 2,655,706 10/1953 Spalding 242263.5 2,729,247 1/ 1956 ONeil l39207 2,771,910 11/1956 Taft l39207 3,048,197 8/1962 Fink l39207 3,081,796 3/1963 Remington 139-122 FOREIGN PATENTS 461,371 10/1913 France.

650,703 9/ 1928 France. 1,220,559 1/1960 France.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

DONALD W. PARKER, Examiner.

I. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner. 

4. A SPRING CLIP FOR HOLDING A BOBBIN IN THE SHUTTLE, SAID SPRING CLIP COMPRISING A PAIR OF RESILIENT SPACED ARMS, SAID ARMS BEING GENERALLY PARALLEL, GENERALLY PARALLEL INDENTATIONS ON SAID ARMS LOCATED ON ARCS OF CIRCLES WHICH ARE LESS IN DIRECTION THAN THE DIAMETER OF THE HEAD OF THE BOBBIN WHICH IS TO BE HELD BETWEEN THE SPRING ARMS, A SERIES OF DEPRESSIONS AT THE INSIDE ASPECTS OF SAID ARMS, SAID DEPRESSIONS BEING OPPOISTELY FACING EACH OTHER AND FORMING A SERIES OF SHOULDERS, THE SHOULDERS AND THE AFORESAID INDENTATIONS PROVIDING A SERIES OF ANNULARLY SPACED GRIPPING POINTS AT THE INSIDE ASPECTS OF SAID SPRING ARMS, AND METAL INSERTS HARDER THAN THE SPRING ARMS ARRANGED IN SAID SPRING ARMS AT SAID GRIPPING POINTS. 